Smoothing-iron



Smoothing Iron. Patented June 17. 1856.

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OSCAR F. MORR-ILL, OF BOSTCN, MASSACHUSETTS.

SMOOTHINGr-IRON.

Specication of Letters Patent No. 15,143, dated June 17, 1856.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, OSCAR F. MORRILL, of Boston, inthe county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have inv-ented certain new and useful Improvements in Irons Used for Smoothing Clothes, Fabrics, &c.; and that the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, hereinafter referred to, forms a full and exact specification of the same, wherein I have set forth the nature and principles of my said improvements, by which my invention may be distinguishedy from others of a similar class, together with such parts as I claim and desire to have secured to me by Letters Patent.

The figures of the accompanying plate of drawings represent my improvements.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal verticalsection of the iron and its appendages. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same. Fig. 3 is .a transverse vertical section taken in the plane of the line A B Fig. 1.

My improvements are made upon that class of smoothing irons which are denominated self-heating, and consist in a` novel arrangement of devices my which a gas or vapor is generated from alcohol or other similar spirit, and a jet of flame made to impinge directly upon the bottom of the interior of the iron, thereby obviating the necessity of revolving the iron, which is unavoidable in the use of irons heated in the ordinary mode, by aspirit lamp. I have also made a further improvement, consequent upon'this mode of heating by a jet of gas, and -without which this flame would be extinguished, which consists in prevent-ing the return of carbonio acid gas, or other gases deleterious to combustion, as will be hereinafter explained.

a a a in the drawings represents the main body of the iron, which is made hollow, and Z) the handle.

c, 0, c are draft apertures and el, CZ, &c., posts or standards for increasing the heating surface.

To the rear part of the iron is attached, by means of a spring hook e, a receptacle f f, which receives the alcohol or other spirit used, through an orilice g, which is tightly closed, when the vessel f f is filled, by a screw cap 7L. A shallow spout or chamber z' communicates with the interior of the spirit vessel f 7, as shown in Fig. 1, and is inserted in a groove or mortise 7c formed in the rear part of they iron, and thereby assists in rigidly holding 'the vessel 7 7 in position. A wick l Z is inserted in the spout z' z' that leads into the vessel f f. From the end of the spout nearest the iron, and communicating with the same, depends a small tube m Fig. l, having a small orifice at n.

0 0 is a wick tube inserted diagonally in the spirit vessel f f, the end of which is brought nearly in con-tact with the orifice n, near the bottom of the tube m..

p p is a wick placed in the diagonal tube o 0.

g g is a small chamber formed in the rear portion of the iron, having a partition r r which cuts off all communication between it and the main heating chamber s s of t-he iron, with the exception of that formed by a small opening t, Fig. 1.

From the foregoing description of the construction of my improved smoothing iron, the following explanation will readily be understood.

By applying a flame to the end of the wick p p of the diagonal wick tube 0 o, the spout v1 z' will be heated and the spirit in the wick of the same, thereby converted into a gas or vapor, which will pass down through the tube m and issue with considerable force from the small orifice n. This gas will be ignited by coming in contact with the flame of the wick p p, producing a long continuous jet of flame that forces itself through the aperture t in the partition r r, and extends through, or nearly through the entire length ofthe iron, impinging directly upon the bottom of the heating chamber s s, and also enveloping the posts or standards Z el, &c. The force with which the jet issues prevents the flame from rising upward, and the unconsumed gases and vapors pass upward and out through a flue u u, as shown by arrows in Fig. 3.

The partition r 1", before referred to, prevents the carbonio acid gas or other gases which impede combustion that may be generated, from passing backward and extinguishing the flame, a result, which but for this device, Would necessarily occur. The aperture t in the partition r 7', should be but little if any larger than the size of the jet of flame, in order to prevent the return of the unconsumable gases. The degree of heat applied to the iron is regulated by a sliding damper o, Which is used to partially out off the iiame from the spout i z' When the iron becomes overheated.

By the above described arrangement it Will be obvious that the iron will be sufliciently heated, in the most economical manner, as the heat is produced, not by simply igniting the alcohol in the main Wick tube, as in the smoothing irons previously constructed, but by using a small flame to heat the spirit in the Wick of the spout or shallow chamber 2' z', and thereby generating a gas which is employed to eiect the heating. By thus being enabled to use a small Wick tube, the leakage and Waste of spirit that occurs in the large Wick tubes necessarily employed in other self heating irons, and which has heretofore proved a serious objection to their use, is avoided.

Having thus described my improvements I shall state my claims as follows:

What I claim as m invention and desire tol have secured to me y Letters Patent, is

l. Attaching to the iron, a vessel or receptacle for containing alcohol, or other spirit, constructed With a spout or chamber into Which the spirit is conducted by a Wick and heated by a iame properly applied thereto, the said spout or chamber having attached to it and communicating With it a OSCAR F. MORRILL.

Witnesses JOSEPH GARRETT, SAMUEL N. PIPER. 

